LCBO Stores - pet peeves

[Belgian]

I would like you guys to share what you like about LC stores, and also what seems painfully non-consumer oriented.

GOOD - computer access to product inventory city-wide, IST, can anticipate product & buy very fresh, some stores will hold stock, case buys are cheap.

BAD - scatterbrain release shedules, product tags right next to the floor, generally weak use of storage potential, shelf stock often badly treated (bright light), staff pretend you can't break up a six-pack.

You?

[grub]

GOOD - computer access to product inventory city-wide, IST, can anticipate product & buy very fresh, some stores will hold stock, case buys are cheap.

there are many times when i consider the online inventory system more bad than good:

going into a store showing abundant inventory, but nothing on the shelves and nobody can find it in back (or they refuse to look). at my local i know not to even bother going in until it's been showing online for 2-3 days. even more frustrating on those rare times where it hits the shelf before the inventory and is gone when i get there.

small quantities of ghost stock that never seems to exist in store (in the back or on the shelves).

seeing tons of stock downtown but not a single &^@#*^ bottle north of steeles - something likely more annoying the further you get from the GTA.

things on the shelves that aren't in the inventory and are gone from the shelf by the time they show up in the system (ie: dfh 60min).

inventory that's at best 24 hours old - why can't it be tied into their retail system?

inconsistent service. it seems to be night and day - either the staff bends over backwards, searching the back and bringing things out for you, or they just claim that "everything we have is on the shelf" and refuse to even look in the back. i'm obviously in favour of the former group and thank them repeatedly for their help.

lack of selection. one little shelf of beer (ignoring the coolers full of macro swill) and a sea of wine, vintages, and liquor. heck, even the alcopops get more love than craft beer.

the good:
prices on imports are usually cheaper than finding them in the states.

most of the fall/winter releases. quality local and imported offerings. lets hope there's more to come.

[Jan Primus]

Belgian...what do you mean by "case buys are cheap"? No discount for buying a 24 of anything I know of...even at Premier Gourmet they'll knock 10% off if you buy 24 of something (all the same).

[Jan Primus]

Oh my pet peave is lack of representation for several popular styles ie barly wine, imperial stout and ipa...just to start with and of course over-representation of lagers.

My positive when they have something good it is usually well-priced, but you need to buy a boatload at once since who knows when (and if) you'll see it again so that kinda washes out the positive for me.

Can't wait to hit Buffalo.

[SteelbackGuy]

they just claim that "everything we have is on the shelf" and refuse to even look in the back.

I find this funny. I would consider myself one of the best CSRs the LCBO has.And considering my attuide towards craft and good beer, I'd say that I was on the same "side" of everyone here. But this never ceases to amaze me. Just so you know.........a lot of times we actually do know that everything is on the shelf, and we don't have to go back to the back to check. Just like other people know their jobs, we know ours. There's no "claim" involved, and especially since I pretty much keep the craft beer section running in my store, I get pissed of when people assume this.

[esprit]

Steelbackguy...as an agent, I'll confirm that there are a lot of really good, conscientious people working in LCBO retail and it has been my pleasure to meet with them many times over the years. However, having said that, it is appalling as to how many ill-informed, downright lazy, uninformed people the LCBO employs. I'm an agent and I generally don't identify myself as same when I enter a store but the chance that I'm going to be misinformed or treated rudely is about 2 to 1. The quality of LCBO personnel in a monopoly environment is abysmal and the LCBO should be ashamed...but they're not because they don't have to compete with Walmart or Costco for their business. It's a problem and there is no resolution other than competition for the business!

[grub]

I find this funny. I would consider myself one of the best CSRs the LCBO has.And considering my attuide towards craft and good beer, I'd say that I was on the same "side" of everyone here. But this never ceases to amaze me. Just so you know.........a lot of times we actually do know that everything is on the shelf, and we don't have to go back to the back to check. Just like other people know their jobs, we know ours. There's no "claim" involved, and especially since I pretty much keep the craft beer section running in my store, I get pissed of when people assume this.

i'm quite sure that you're the exception here, and like i said i've made a point of thanking those CSRs that are helpful. here's the scenario i'm talking about, and it has played out many times at the store i frequent most (though it doesn't seem to be the same person each time):

watch website inventory. shows stock of a beer i'm interested in (now 24 hours old inventory data). pop over to store at lunch time. no stock on shelves, no open shelf space for said beer. track down somebody (normally not in the beer area) and ask for help. CSR#1 looks in the back, says they just got a big shipment in and haven't processed it all (which seems odd since it's already in the inventory) and that i should check back the next day.

website still shows same inventory next morning. visit store, again nothing on shelf/no empty space. CSR#2, busy restocking macro swill, indicates that "everything we have is on the shelf" (which seems baffling since the shelves appear the same as the previous day - no new seasonals - and the previous day i was told the beer was there).

third morning. still shows same inventory on website. check store and still nothing on shelves and no empty space. CSR#3 from random location in the store happily goes into the back and comes out with a case of whatever i wanted. hooray! many thanks are given and i go on my way.

by day four at least some of the seasonals are on the shelf (but usually not all).

in this case it's absolutely clear that CSR#2 didn't know the inventory and just didn't want to be bothered restocking the corona. on some days the non-helpful CSR is in the beer area, and some days they're from a random place in the store. i'll also note that in all the above cases the people rarely ever have heard of the beer i'm looking for - to the point that they take my shopping list that shows beer/brewer/size/price in the back with them to help find it. hardly a sign that they just know the inventory so well and can immediately answer my question.

you might say "well, just go in on day 4 and get what you want from the shelf", but then you'd miss out on some of those rare gem seasonals (*cough* dfh 60min *cough*). this one was showing in the inventory for a week and i was going over every day, to the point that by half way through i was leaving my name/phone and asking them to hold some and call me when it arrives. never got a call, never got a hold, and a day or two later it was gone. i don't know who bribed a CSR to hide it in the back for them, but they should be lynched. i know i'm not alone on this particular beer.

then there are the times where a beer is on the shelves and gone by the time the inventory is updated. i'll go through my daily check on the current seasonal stock, never seeing the one i want, but then stop in the store for something else to find an open spot for it and all (or most) of it gone. this is usually followed by an inventory update a day or so later showing 1 bottle and then nothing.

like i said, i'll happily thank and praise those that do a good job (and it seems you're one of them), but the others that can't be bothered sure don't deserve my business. i'd honestly boycott the store if they weren't the only place within a 15min drive that ever has the seasonals in stock. heck, there's only one other store with 25min that ever has anything, and it's worse!

[JerCraigs]

I have had mixed experiences with the online inventory - once the guy did me a big favour and dug through the back and pulled out the Winter Release stuff that I wanted (thanks to Greg for posting the stock codes here! it helped)

Another time the inventory read 96 bottles of something, none on the shelf, the guy checked in the back and either couldn't find them or didn't really look.

[SteelbackGuy]

Peter-I suppose as an agent, you would have had to deal with all sorts of LCBO staffers, and I think it sucks that the majority of the time, the experience is bad. We are paid very well, and as a result, should want and enjoy serving you, or any other agency, liscencee, or regular customer. It does make me happy though, that you met at least some cool staffers, and I hope those positive relationships continue.

Grub- My comments weren't directed at you by the way. What pisses me off is that there is a stigma surrounding LCBO employees that go into the back, "pretend to check" on stuff, and just come out and say that it isn't there. I'll address the inventory issue in a minute as well.

Now, in general, I can divide the staff up into three groups.

There's the old crew, which consists of staffers who have been on board 16-25+ years. They were around when you had to get a conservative MP to put your name in the hat for a job. They know all the product numbers off by heart because they had to at one point, they had a beer store like system, where you told them what you wanted. They would go in the back, and then bring it out and wrap it up in paper. I think generally, people in this group are anxious to retire. They do not dun cash and they basically sit around, do some stock, and are generally not knowledgeable when it comes to products because in their time, beverage alcohol was not as "sexy" or popular as it is know. These type are very good at looking busy while doing actually nothing, or very little. I can assume it is safe to say that these are the ones who are behaving is ways discussed earlier. It really sucks that they get away with it, but its the old "I've been here along time so..........." disease.

The second group are people who have been around 10-15 years or so. Generally they have more product knowledge than the old crew, will run cash, do lots of stock, planograms, image, whatever. Usually the WOW (wonderful ontario wines) leader falls in this group. They are passionate about Ontario wines and monitor and track the sales progress. There is also usually a designated "beer guy" who fals in this group, who should be making sure that all seasonals are in stock, etc. It is this persons job to order all the releases. But the problem is that it requires more work (making tags, finding space, placing the order, etc), and since the seasonal beers arent "forced" on a store, you might find that some store have no release beers whatsoever. I think that the people in this group are generally helpful, but unfortunately, they've been around the old crew too long, see what they get away with, and it starts to rub off on them.

The third group will include myself. We generally have been around up to 5 years. Usually, our product knowledge is very good, and we were hired based on our past with regards to having excellent customer service skills. It's people like us who want to help you in any way we can. Unfortunately, we seem to end up on the cash registers a lot, and ultimately the public is stuck with less passionate people on the floor.

Having said all this, there are obviously people in each of these groups who really care, and want to help. There are also people who don't give a rats ass. I think the latter makes up the majority.

It's too bad really.....I think helping someone find a specific product they are looking for really makes their day, and it is my pleaure to do so.

[SteelbackGuy]

With regards to inventory.

I think some part of our system needs to change.

Most stores in our system are now operating on what is called an "assumed load". This happens more often in the larger stores where the skids come off the truck, and the stock is put right ion the floor. It's called door to floor.

The problem with the "assumed load" is just that. The system knows what is is supposed to be coming to the store, from the warehouse, and it assumes that the store got it. But the warehouse might not actually send it, and we'd never know cause we have an assumed load accept. I can't tell you how many times this happens every week. So this could be one of the problems people are facing, where staffers are actually looking for something that the computer says "96" in stock, when in reality, it never got there.

[Belgian]

Belgian...what do you mean by "case buys are cheap"? No discount for buying a 24 of anything I know of...even at Premier Gourmet they'll knock 10% off if you buy 24 of something (all the same).

I mean the same case of beer from an importer would cost another 25-40 bucks. So buying a case when a beer arrives is usually a big savings of getting the beer any other way, Premier or an importer, and it's absolutely undamaged by light. I should not have said 'case buy' = discount, but 'getting a whole case is a cheap affair.' Bring on the Orval.


About Inventory accuracy & uneven store responsiveness

I agree. Life's not fair one must make certain advantages. You DO have to call and try to secure stock sometimes... and some store people are not jackasses, they will look all through the basement for the last few remaining cases of Sint Bernardus you are after.

You have to make relationships with the better stores, simple as that - and let it go if some stores are total bung to deal with, just work around it if possible. You have to take whatever 'unfair advantages' you can find in the whoile screwed-up situation, and make those work for you - IF you want the product! Incidentally I believe this is exactly how people get by in life most places in the world.

I've gotten to know how to get stock from certain stores, and they do everything to help me. Admittedly Toronto is FAR easier for choosing favorite stores because there are so many. Bad situation, making the best.

[lagerale]

One pet peeve of mine is seeing all the pasteurized cornflake beer in the open fridge and the craft and unpasteurized beer on the shelf, noting that some stores (Cooper Street in particular) do make an effort to put a decent selection in the coolers.

By the way, when is the LCBO going to put some doors on those fridges!!!! Even No Frills is stepping up on this.

[Tapsucker]

I think most of what I have to say has already been said, but here's something that has puzzled me.

Why the hell does the LCBO offer Air Miles? I mean, if I were a retailer that wanted to set myself apart from the competition, this might be a way, but the LCBO has no real competition. Of all the things they could spend energy on...

[Bytowner]

I think most of what I have to say has already been said, but here's something that has puzzled me.

Why the hell does the LCBO offer Air Miles? I mean, if I were a retailer that wanted to set myself apart from the competition, this might be a way, but the LCBO has no real competition. Of all the things they could spend energy on...

It helps move product that's been sitting in the back for ages or kicks up demand for something new. I ain't complaining.

[shintriad]

My main pet peeve is the hours in which the stores are open. I'm sure they have their reasons, but give me a break.

Also, the fact that the LCBO exists.